Slightly longer than the previous norm. I introduce a few new OC's here, I hope you accept the well. I mean, you already knew her from a chapter or so back, but, whatever.

ENJOY!

Lunch had passed on the Sanzenin Estate, and Nagi was slightly edgy.

With Maria gone, there was a whole role missing from her life. She needed a girl to fill her place, to talk about Hayate to, and to vent when she was frustrated, generally about Hayate. Obviously Hayate wouldn't do.

Part of her wanted to ask him herself, but she feared that. Somewhere, buried in her, she felt that he would confess to cheating, and she didn't want to hear him say that. What she wanted, more than anything, was for him to sweep her off her feet. It had been nearly a year and a half without him ever commenting on their relationship. Of course, every so often, he'd show he cared for her, but he did for others too.

Nagi acknowledged this, but desired that she was his only one.

To avoid stressful thinking, she mindless was in the Wii Room, playing the latest unreleased game. She had enough stock in Nintendo that she was able to buy the games often a month before they were officially finished.

Maria's absence, Hayate's relationship negligence, they all swirled away into nothing as she flicked her Wii-mote around.

Hayate peered through the door at Nagi. Dinner was nearing, and she had spent the greater half of her day in the Wii Room surrounded by speakers and 84in Plasma Screen TVs. Hayate knew she was bothered. But he also knew that she'd never confess to being bothered. Were he to ask why she was upset, traditionally, she'd get angry at him for it.

He sighed, unable to do anything but be her servitor. As he walked back from his routine check up on his mistress, he pondered the problem that was Maria. Obviously she left because of me, but... where did she go off? Why didn't she take any of her other clothes? Hayate and Nagi had checked at a point after lunch. Maria's room was a still as a crypt. She hadn't even been in it since the beginning of the week. She had slept in the same room as Nagi the nights previous.

That thought made Hayate worry. How will Milady sleep? Maria always helped her get to bed... I guess me? GAH! That wouldn't be right! A female and male can't sleep in the same bed! I won't do it. What would she think? What would a girl think if a guy was sleeping in their bed? Hayate shivered, She'd kick me out and leave me like Maria did if she thinks that I am trying to engage in unspoken activities with her!

Maria was essentially the moral support for the two clueless beings. When their lives were going wrong, they would turn to her for help. With her not there, the house felt empty, and their heads felt too clouded.

Hayate would've loved Maria's advice on the matter, but, she wasn't there to ask.

Hayate entered the kitchen after checking the calendar.

"Oh, look at that, Ms. Hinagiku birthday is coming up!" The present date was the 22nd of February. In less than ten days, it would be Hinagiku Katsura's birthday. Hayate flushed. He hadn't bought her anything or thought of it until just now.

Memories flooded him of last year. He recalled Hina, her hair flowing behind her as she struck at him over and over again, infuriated that he had forgotten to meet her on the night of her birthday. She broke down shortly after, and he served her tea and cookies in apology.

He liked her, but she would never like me, so, that ends that fantasy.

With a sigh, he began to ponder what he should get her for her birthday while cooking up a tasty dinner for Nagi.

Hayate stood in the wide kitchen, crackled his knuckles, and when to work. He had one mission: to cook his mistress's dinner. It was a special dinner tonight, in a sad, somber sort of way. Maria was not there. Normally, Maria, Nagi and Hayate, occasionally Klaus and Tama, would all eat dinner together. Hayate pondered in sad memory that these dinners weren't really special, but they were all together then, and they weren't now.

So he intended to make this one really special for Nagi, because in his mind, Maria really wasn't coming back.

With his mistress's enjoyment of her dinner the focus of his cooking, he found a recipe that he felt she would enjoy. Hayate knew that the grandeur of her posh lifestyle had mostly desensitized her to posh 5 star dishes, so going low key, yet still maintaining a delicious flavor was the way to please her.

The real trick wouldn't be to impress her taste buds, but rather getting the meal to be healthy for her.

He began with gathering a dozen or so lemons, limes, and oranges from the cold storage just a room away from the versatile kitchen. To begin, he needed to get the rind of all three of the citrus fruits. So he sat at the kitchen table, gently scraping the skin of each fruit gently with a fruit grater. With great care and skill, each of the dozen of each type of fruit was transformed from a tough protective coat into a fine slimy powder of green, orange and gold in a mixing bowl. In a matter of half an hour, the bowl was nearly full.

This, he put in the fridge.

Hayate wiped the small amount of sweat from his cerulean hair, and walked to the cold storage again. To anyone not trained in culinary arts, the scene would be rather grotesque. Rows upon rows of stocked meats and fruits were presented before him. He knew precisely what he was looking for, and pursued it. Placing on some rubber gloves and an apron, he pulled a few slabs of poultry from a hangar. Carefully, he made his way back to another section of the kitchen counter where a cutting board was previously placed for his usage.

Deftly, he used his knife to thin the meat and remove the excess fat that the poultry previously possessed. He did this for 4 slabs of the chicken, making roughly two dozen slices. He neatly laid these uncooked pieces of chicken on a large plate.

He collected a large casserole dish and set it in front of the bowl where he kept the unpeeled citrus fruits. With a paring knife, he sliced the lemons, limes, and oranges into thin slices, and orderly laid them about the bottom of the casserole dish, forming a sort of bed.

He left this in a large refrigerator until for a few seconds.

Using a breading and a few seasons, the lemon, lime, and orange 'powder' included, he lightly coated the surface of each slice of chicken, and placed each one atop the bed of citrus fruits.

Hayate smiled, he knew exactly how this would taste as he made it.

The moment he was done loading the breaded slices of chicken into the dish, he popped it into the oven, thinking about a side dish.

Again, the trick is to get her to eat healthy food. Hmmm...

Hayate smirked as he came up with a devious plan to get his mistress to eat her vegetables. He began to make traditional mashed potatoes. Lucky for him, the Sanzenin Estate comes equipped, year round, with every known form of produce imaginable. This fact is in no way associated with the author's lack of originality or obvious disregard to Japanese tradition in having a wealthy family eat zinged chicken breasts and mashed potatoes.

Hayate had, in nearly no time at all, peeled a few dozen potatoes, and began to boil them in a large vat. While these potatoes were softening, he checked the chicken in the oven, noted that it was cooking slightly more on one side than the other. Knowledgeably, he used an oven mitt to turn the casserole dish around, to allow even cooking throughout the slices.

It didn't take long for the potatoes to fully boil, and thus, once they did, Hayate drained the most of the water from them, added some milk and butter, and began casually mixing them together.

After a few good stirs, he grabbed a handful of stereotypically 'healthy' vegetables: carrots, broccoli, celery and spinach, and began to mince them to their molecular state. In a few minutes, a sticky putty of cut up vegetables sat before Hayate in a green and orange goo.

Teaspoon by teaspoon, he shoveled the fine mixture into the potatoes. The color dissipated from the goo and throughout the potatoes rather quickly, leaving nothing but slightly green potatoes. Without a reference to differentiate from, was impossible to notice.

Hayate smiled, tasting a sample and verifying his skill as a chef.

Likewise, when the zinged chicken came out of the oven, he took a small sample which he enjoyed.

"All that's left is to hope that she eats her servings of mashed potatoes." Hayate left the food in a heated chamber for later use as he went off to gather Nagi for dinner.

Nagi's eyes were glassed over when Hayate found her, still in the Wii room. Gently, his left hand went over her right shoulder to alert her of his presence.

"H-Hayate!" Nagi stammered, caught unawares by her butler. "Give a girl some warning before you just grab her arm like that!" Red filled her face.

"I'm sorry Milady, but I just cooked dinner, and I feel it would be a waste to leave it for long." His warm smile temporarily made her forget that her caretaker went missing last night.

"So," Nagi asked, fumbling for words to use, "what did you make for dinner?"

"Ah, nothing special Milady. Just some zinged chicken and mashed potatoes."

"Zinged chicken?" Nagi asked, mildly suspicious. "What is that?"

"Well, let's see, I took the chicken, and zinged them with flavor." Hayate smiled at her.

"I see." It was completely uninformative, but the zeal that Hayate put behind his smile made Nagi unable to think of much.

In the next instant, Hayate was getting her chair for her, and she was sitting in it. She blinked, and the daze ended as a platter of food, a few slices of breaded chicken and mashed potatoes. A light steam emanated from the dish as Nagi sniffed the air. A tangy, lively smell filled her nostrils with each waft she inhaled. Dreamily, greedily, she smelled for more. Another scent was buried behind the fruity smell, a meaty chicken, and a hearty helping of richly endowed mashed potatoes.

Nagi yelped as Hayate swooped in to snag a drip of saliva managing to escape her mouth.

She wanted to scowl, but knew better.

"Aren't you going to eat with me?" It wasn't a question, it was a demand.

"As soon as you comment on the first bite, I will grab my plate."

Nagi rolled her eyes and complied. She went for the chicken first. With moderate delicacy, she tore a piece of a chicken slice off and impaled it on the tines of her fork. Hayate watched with great anticipation as she lifted the small piece to her mouth, sniffed it once, and wrapped her small lips around the meat. Gently, she chewed, letting the tangy flavor escape to the corners of her mouth, and swallowed with even more care.

She raised a hand to her cheek, "Hatate, that was phenomenal."

"I am glad you think so." Hayate's beaming smile was unrelenting.

He grabbed his plate and sat across from her, secretly waiting for her to eat the mashed potatoes.

"How did you make this? Could you teach me?"

"Oh, it was simple really. I am sure I could teach you one day. Just a little trick with some citrus fruits I remembered back when I worked on a lemon tree farm."

Nagi smiled back at him. Her Hayate had seemingly worked every profession.

But as they both ate their food, mashed potatoes included, they both began to sadden. The silence ebbed away at their positive demeanors, and left Nagi frowning as she consumed the savory dish.

By the time she requested seconds, she finally opened up.

"Hayate," She asked, the second plate being presented to her, an offering to the master.

"Yes, Milady?" The bluenette answered with a forced smile.

"What... what if... if Maria doesn't come back?" She finally forced out. "And this Veronica Belle chick is here to stay?"

"Well, I guess it means this is our last dinner together before everything changes?" Hayate's eyes closed as he smiled, making him oblivious to Nagi's crimson face before him.

Her mood instantly skyrocketed as she began her routine Hayate fantasies. Maria's absence became a temporary afterthought as the possibilities of Hayate flew through her head.

Unsure of how to act in front of him, whether or not she should keel to his smooth talking and say something flirtatious or just smile, she decided to be done with dinner after a few more mouthfuls of mashed potatoes.

"Hayate, thanks for dinner,"

"You will be upstairs playing that new game I take it?"

"Ugh, it has a name Hayate." She huffed, and fled his magical gaze.

Hayate sighed. He took her dishes and smiled; she ate a lot of vegetable-ridden mashed potatoes this time around. In essence, he won.

As the night dragged on, an ominous air filled the halls. Rank with anticipation and anxiety, the house, and its inhabitants, awaited the concisely planned arrival of the new maid.

Hayate cleaned, trying to keep his mind off it, but the overwhelming knowledge that Maria had left because of him, and that she was being replaced, could not be evaded for long. When it finally caught up with him and swept his happy thoughts away, he just sighed, very deeply, and continued working. After all, he'd been through this before. His beloved parents abandoned him and stacked him with an insurmountable debt.

Nagi, on the other hand, sat in her Wii room, now opting to use a GameCube controller in lieu to the Wii-mote. Because of this, the ever-repeating colors sapped her of her focus, and she fought hard to keep her eyelids open.

As hard as she tried, however, the colors on the screen began to melt away, and she found herself dreaming away on the couch she played on.

Hayate continued his round for a half-hour longer until he found his mistress weakly snoring on the red velvet couch that took up a small portion of the Wii room, one of the various entertainment rooms in the Sanzenin manor.

He smiled, his immediate angst wiped away, and he expertly moved his arms underneath her knees and back, and gingerly lifted her into the air.

It wouldn't be proper to change her into her nightly attire, so I will just lay her down in her bed.

Silently, he moved her back to her bed. Setting her down atop her bed, he gazed at her for a moment. A shiver later, he had laid a spare blanket on her, and tucked her in softly.

She smiled, and so did Hayate.

"Good night, milady." He whispered to her, giving her tousled hair a light pat.

"Haya-" she whispered, half asleep.

Hayate paused, waiting for her command. "Yes milady?"

She just nestled her way further into her covers and rolled on her sight. Hayate gave a silent chuckle and walked away smiling. He was careful to leave a large nightlight on and shut the door without any noise.

He wandered off to his room, a normal sized room near the roof with no obvious decorations or hints of personal belongings. He took off his attire and fell on the bed. In seconds, he was asleep.

She folded her legs and huffed.

The faint rumbling of the road leaked into their black Lincoln MKZ, which irritated her. It wouldn't have mattered if the ambient silence feature was working or not, she was still grouchy. She placed her pale hands on the black leather interior, rapped at the bench in back, and huffed again.

She changed the position of her legs.

"I hate this." She grumbled.

"Now, now Veronica-"

"I prefer Quasar," she interjected sharply.

"Veronica," the man in the driver's seat insisted, eliciting another huff, "You know it is better this way."

"I know, but that's what I hate. Couldn't we have come up with a better option? We are so much smarter than this! Look!" She held up her leg, showing the driver a very mangled, warped bare foot. "How am I ever going to hide this? They aren't stupid, they'll see through the qualifications."

"Ooh, I hadn't thought about your feet. Hmm, well, if you are going to keep your job my little daughter, then we are going to have to improvise, aren't we?"

"HOW? We are only 8 hours away, and we still haven't thought of a way around my little foot problem." She growled, trying to wiggle her toes for him.

"Now, now, Veronica, don't wake your mother." The silver haired driver motioned to his right. A young lady, looking not more than twenty, slept in the passenger's seat. Her eyes were serenely closed, and a hint of drool could be seen trickling down the seatbelt that held her securely upright.

"Ugh, stop calling her that. You just had to go and bring your fancy girlfriend, didn't you?"

"It is her car, and she is my girlfriend, and she is for the sake of maintaining a proper demeanor to these overly wealthy people, your mother. Are we in clear and coherent understanding?" The man inquired sternly.

"Yes father." She forced out.

The little Veronica 'Quasar' Belle folded her legs once more, and began twirling a lock of her shoulder-length blonde hair. She observed this action intently, as if marveling the act as it was. She picked up the leather-bound document that contained the comprehensive files on the two key members of the household and reviewed them.

"So, this Nagi girl is proud but has obvious weaknesses, and if she ever shared any of these weaknesses, she shared them with the girl I am replacing, Maria, is it?"

"Most certainly."

"And this Hayate, ooh, he's cute," she exclaimed, admiring his picture for a moment longer. Her father chuckled softly. "He is oblivious to an nth degree, yet as skilled as a machine. Pfft! As if!" She scoffed.

"And remember, she has the largest crush on this boy, so tread carefully. One false move in the first week or so and you get canned."

"Oh, don't worry, I'm careful." She grabbed a blue and silver metal pen and began to toy around with it in the bench behind him.

Slowly, she began to work at the metal, removing the blue plastic parts without shattering them. Gradually, what was once a pen became a sinewy stick figure made of metal. She shattered the blue plastic and stuck it into the head of the pen figurine.

She found a yellow ball point pen of similar make, and did the same thing, carefully arranging the 'hairstyles' to resemble the figures on the documents before her.

Veronica put pen-Hayate's hand in pen-Nagi's hand, and brought them together in somewhat of a hug, heads touching, indicating a kiss.

"Something tells me," her father began, noting her work, "that, somewhere deep within the complex workings of your mind, you are going to enjoy your stay here."

She patted down her vermillion dress, satisfied, and glared back at him with livid emerald eyes that illuminated the darkness of the back of the car.

"Yes," She clenched both figures in her right hand and squeezed them with all her miniscule might. From both pen-figurines, the metal bent, contorted, and caved in. The inkwells inside each burst, splattering yellow and blue ink on her dress and face. She grinned wickedly.

"I think I will."

MUHAHAHAHAHA! I had so much fun writing that last scene that I cried. Legit statement is legit.

More coming soon...

Chapter added 13:04, 01/30/2012